Flexural Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Beams

Strengthened with CFRP Sheets and Epoxy Mortar

Byong Y. Bahn1 and Ronald S. Harichandran, F.ASCE2
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Abstract: Experiments were conducted to study the effect of using epoxy mortar patch end anchorages on the flexural behavior of
reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer 共CFRP兲 sheets. More specifically, the effect of the end
anchorage on strength, deflection, flexural strain, and interfacial shear stress was examined. The test results show that premature debond-
ing failure of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP sheet can be delayed or prevented by using epoxy mortar patch end
anchorages. A modified analytical procedure for evaluating the flexural capacity of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP
sheets and epoxy mortar end anchorage is developed and provides a good prediction of test results.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲1090-0268共2008兲12:4共387兲
CE Database subject headings: Concrete beams; Concrete, reinforced; Fiber reinforced polymers; Epoxy compounds; Mortars;
Reinforcement; Stiffness.

Introduction
In the last decade, fiber-reinforced polymer 共FRP兲 composites
have been used for strengthening reinforced concrete 共RC兲 struc-
tural members. External posttensioning, bonding of steel plates,
section enlargement, and total replacement have been the tradi-
tional methods used to enhance structural strength. Many re-
searchers have found that bonding FRP is an efficient, reliable,
and cost effective method of RC structural strengthening and re-
habilitation 共Ziraba et al. 1994兲. A large number of RC structures
need strengthening or rehabilitation to address corrosion of steel
reinforcement, poor concrete construction or quality, changes in
intended use, or increase in loads.
There is a growing need for infrastructure rehabilitation world-
wide. Problems associated with the bonding of steel plates and
FRP sheets demand further research. Bonding steel plates has the
disadvantages of corrosion over the long term and difficult han-
dling due to weight. Bonding FRP sheets has the advantages of
high strength to weight ratio, lack of corrosion, and ease of
constructibility.
More recently, FRP, and particularly, carbon fiber-reinforced
polymer 共CFRP兲, have been used as an alternative to bonding
steel plates 共Rahimi and Hutchinson 2001兲. All FRP materials
have linear elastic stress-strain behavior up to failure and have
high tensile strength and failure strain. There is concern that these
engineering characteristics may hinder the development of ductile
1
Professor, Dept. of Architectural Engineering, Daejeon Univ.,
Daejeon 300-716, Korea.
2
Professor and Chair, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824-1226.
Note. Discussion open until January 1, 2009. Separate discussions
must be submitted for individual papers. To extend the closing date by
one month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Managing
Editor. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and pos-
sible publication on September 14, 2006; approved on September 6,
2007. This paper is part of the Journal of Composites for Construction,
Vol. 12, No. 4, August 1, 2008. ©ASCE, ISSN 1090-0268/2008/4-387–
395/$25.00.
flexural failure and the full utilization of the strength of the rein-
forcing material 共Colotti et al. 2004兲. Ductility is desirable in
structural design. Test results show that when steel plates are used
as externally bonded reinforcement, the end anchorage details
control the complex stress state of the plate end, and have a sig-
nificant influence on the ductility of the strengthened beam 共Jones
et al. 1988兲.
Flexural strengthening of RC beams is one of the more chal-
lenging applications of FRP material. Extensive experimental and
analytical research has been conducted on the flexural strength of
concrete beams with various types of bonded FRP composites.
There are four failure modes for RC beams strengthened with
externally bonded FRP plates: 共1兲 debonding failure; 共2兲 FRP rup-
ture; 共3兲 compression failure; and 共4兲 shear failure 共Bonacci and
Maalej 2001兲. Strengthened beams fail predominantly by debond-
ing of the FRP from the concrete surface before the FRP ruptures
共Brena and Marci 2004兲. High interfacial shear stress concentra-
tions at the ends of the bonded external reinforcement causes FRP
debonding or ripping of the concrete cover adjacent to conven-
tional internal steel reinforcing bars. Although various techniques
such as the use of anchor bolts or adhesively bonded anchor
plates have been employed to reduce debonding failure, approxi-
mately 60% of the beams tested in previous studies still showed
debonding of the FRP or ripping of the concrete cover.
The experimental investigation reported in this paper is aimed
at improving the debonding behavior in RC beams strengthened
with CFRP sheets, by using a practical and effective epoxy mortar
anchorage. The study investigates the effect of CFRP strain,
concrete-adhesive-CFRP interfacial shear stress, and cracking
pattern of concrete on CFRP debonding and concrete cover rip-
ping. Experimental and analytical results are presented for RC
beams strengthened with CFRP sheets.
Experimental Program
Test Beams
Many experimental investigations have shown that premature
failure can occur because of FRP debonding or ripping caused by

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 Table 1. Description of Beam Specimen
Surface Mortar CFRP Anchorage
Beam shape length ply type Remarks
BN — — — — Unstrengthened
control
BN-L — — 1 — Strengthened
control
BF1-L Flat 250 mm —
BF1-LA Anchor bolts Anchor 8 EA
BF1-LU U-shaped CFRP
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BF1-LUA U-shaped CFRP+ Anchor 8 EA

anchor bolts
BF2-L 500 mm —
BF2-LA Anchor bolts Anchor 8 EA
BF2-LU U-shaped CFRP
Fig. 1. Anchorage configurations with mortar patches
BW1-L Wave 250 mm —
BW1-LU U-shaped CFRP
interfacial shear stress concentrations at the ends of bonded FRP
reinforcement 共Colotti and Spadea 2001兲. In this study, epoxy
create cavities at the ends of beams, the polystyrene was removed
mortar patches are applied at both ends of the CFRP bonded RC
after curing of the concrete, and the cavities were later filled with
beam specimens to delay or prevent such premature debonding
epoxy mortar. The BF1 series beams consisted of specimens with
failures. Although many test variables could be examined, the
four different end anchorages: Flat, U-shaped CFRP, anchor bolt,
principal test parameters in this study were limited to the anchor-
and U-shaped CFRP with anchor bolt. The BW1 series beams
age type and method of applying the epoxy mortar. It was
consisted of specimens with two different end anchorages: Wave
postulated that the epoxy mortar patch would resist the high
and wave with U-shaped CFRP.
concrete-adhesive-CFRP interfacial shear stress, and premature
The beam test was conducted under four-point bending. For
debonding failure would be delayed or eliminated due to the high
flexural strengthening, a CFRP sheet was bonded to the bottom of
bond strength of the epoxy mortar in the anchorage zone at the
the beam with the fibers oriented along the length of the beam.
beam end.
For the U-shaped anchor, a CFRP sheet was wrapped around
Six anchorage types were designed to improve the perfor-
three sides of the beam 共excluding the top face兲 on top of the
mance of the RC beams strengthened with CFRP sheets and to
longitudinal CFRP reinforcement and the epoxy mortar patches at
compare the anchorage effect. The anchorage configurations are
the beam ends. When used, anchor bolts were 110 mm long and
shown in Fig. 1 and consist of: 共1兲 epoxy mortar; 共2兲 anchor bolt;
fastened through predrilled holes at the ends of the concrete beam
共3兲 U-shaped CFRP; 共4兲 anchor bolt +U-shaped CFRP; 共5兲 flat
and CFRP reinforcement. Steel plates were used between the bolt
bonding surface; and 共6兲 wavy bonding surface. All anchorage
heads and the CFRP.
types are applied on top of epoxy mortar patches in the end an-
chorage zone.
The RC beams were designed to have full flexural strength Material Properties
before and after being strengthened with CFRP sheets and within
Table 2 shows mechanical properties of the constituent materials:
practical limitations. A total of 11 test specimens were prepared
Concrete, epoxy mortar, steel reinforcing bars, and CFRP sheets.
with three D10 bars on the bottom, two D10 bars on the top, and
The properties of the CFRP depend on the fiber type and resin,
D6 stirrups spaced at 100 mm. Three types of 2,000 mm long RC
fiber content, fiber orientation, and manufacturing process. The
beams having cross-sectional dimensions of 150 mm⫻ 250 mm
properties of the CFRP sheet were obtained from the supplier.
were designed. All beams were cast from the same batch of
ready-mixed normal concrete, and five concrete cylinders were
also prepared. All RC beams were constructed in the laboratory Bonding of CFRP Sheets
using conventional curing techniques. All beam specimens were strengthened for flexure using a unidi-
Table 1 shows the anchorage type for all beam specimens. The rectional CFRP sheet applied using the wet-layup procedure with
code used to identify each specimen consists of two letters and a the fibers oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the beams.
number. The first letter is always a B denoting beams. The second
letter N denotes specimens in which the epoxy mortar patch is not
present. The second letter F designates specimens with epoxy Table 2. Mechanical Properties of Materials
mortar patches in the end anchorage zones. The letter L following
Material
the hyphen denotes beams strengthened with CFRP sheets. The
number following the F is the length of the epoxy mortar patch. Epoxy
The letters U and A following the hyphen denote the anchorage Property Concrete Rebar CFRP mortar
types with U indicating a U-shaped CFRP anchor, A indicating an Compressive strength 共MPa兲 24.3 — — 102.1
anchor bolt, and UA indicating the presence of both types of Design tensile strength 共MPa兲 — 559 3,481 15.2
anchors.
Design Young’s modulus 共MPa兲 — 1.96⫻ 105 2.3⫻ 105 10,342
Nine beam specimens had epoxy mortar patches in the anchor-
Yield strength 共MPa兲 — 427 — —
age zones, and additional anchorages were installed on the sur-
Tensile strength 共MPa兲 — — 38.2 —
face of the epoxy mortar. Expandable polystyrene was used to

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Fig. 2. Test setup

The CFRP sheets were bonded to the concrete beam specimens by

the industrial field procedure for manual layup as follows: 共1兲 the
bottom faces of the beams were lightly ground, blown with air,
and partially coated with a putty; 共2兲 a surface primer was
applied; 共3兲 the first layer of impregnating resin was applied; 共4兲
the CFRP sheet was applied after removing its backing; and 共5兲
the second layer of impregnating resin was applied and air
trapped beneath the CFRP sheets was removed. After seven days
of curing, the specimens were tested to failure.

Flexural Test Procedure

Electrical resistance wire strain gages 共WSGs兲 were bonded to the
steel reinforcing bars at midspan before casting the concrete.
WSGs were also installed on the external surfaces of the CFRP
sheets along the length of the beams to measure the strain varia-
tion. Linear variable differential transducers 共LVDTs兲 were in-
stalled to record deflections by means of a computerized data
acquisition system. The locations of the LVDTs are shown in Fig.
2. The beams were subjected to a four-point flexural bending test.
An automatic data acquisition system was used to monitor load-
ing, deflections, and strains on the CFRP sheets and the steel
reinforcing bars. The load was applied stepwise to the beam by
means of an MTS Systems Corp. actuator system. At each load
step, cracks were observed and marked.

Observed Failure Patterns

Typical crack patterns in the beam specimens after they failed are
shown in Fig. 3. The control beam 共BN兲 had a typical flexural
failure, and beams 共BN-L兲 strengthened with CFRP sheets and
without mortar patches failed by debonding of the CFRP. Beams
strengthened with CFRP and mortar patches, however, failed by
CFRP sheet rupture, although some local debonding of CFRP
sheets occurred before final failure. The failure location and fail- Fig. 3. Crack patterns at failure
ure mechanism of the CFRP varied according to the end anchor-
age type. The CFRP sheets started to fail after the beams reached
the maximum load except for two beams 共BN and BN-L兲. of the CFRP just before the wavy surface anchorage at the beam
The unstrengthened control beam BN exhibited a typical flex- end, and also displayed a tensile stress concentration in the strain
ural failure similar to that of a conventional RC beam. The measurements on the CFRP before the wavy surface anchorage.
strengthened control beam without mortar patches 共BN-L兲 failed Beam BF2-LU exhibited CFRP rupture at midspan. All beam
by CFRP debonding due to interfacial shear stress concentration specimens with CFRP rupture were accompanied by local deb-
at the beam end, and local debonding also occurred due to con- onding of the CFRP due to crack propagation in the concrete as
crete flexural cracking away from the ends. On the other hand, all the applied load was increased.
other beams strengthened with CFRP and epoxy mortar patches
failed by CFRP rupture accompanied by local debonding of the
Strength of Test Beams
CFRP due to concrete flexural cracking and or interfacial shear
stress away from the ends. The beam test was terminated after the A summary of the experimental results is presented in Table 3.
CFRP debonded or ruptured. Beam BW1-L showed tensile failure This includes load and deflection at cracking, yield, and peak

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 Table 3. Summary of Test Results
Yield load Maximum load CFRP failure load
Cracking
load Pcr Py ␦y Pu ␦u Pf ␦f Ductility Failure
Beam 共kN兲 共kN兲 共mm兲 共kN兲 共mm兲 共kN兲 共mm兲 ␦ f / ␦y modea
BN 9.61 41.50 6.17 53.45 46.49 N.A. N.A. N.A. Flexure
BN-L 14.32 54.23 7.16 67.96 22.02 67.86 22.36 3.12 I
BF1-L 15.10 51.78 7.05 71.88 29.64 71.69 29.96 4.25 II
BF1-LA 15.98 50.50 6.47 72.37 30.04 72.37 30.10 4.65 II
BF1-LU 15.85 50.31 6.43 72.22 26.31 71.98 26.33 4.10 II
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BF1-LUA 17.85 53.25 6.42 76.79 31.44 76.79 31.44 4.90 II

BF2-L 16.28 51.29 5.60 72.18 19.47 72.08 19.56 3.49 II
BF2-LA 16.67 52.96 5.94 76.49 23.05 76.49 23.05 3.88 II
BF2-LU 16.38 53.45 5.88 77.28 22.16 77.28 22.73 3.87 II
BW1-L 14.51 49.62 6.31 71.69 36.36 70.71 36.37 5.76 II
BW1-LU 15.40 51.98 6.09 76.98 32.66 76.98 32.66 5.36 II
a
I: CFRP debonding; II: CFRP rupture.

load, midspan displacement ductility factor, and principal failure
mode. Yielding was defined as the stage of loading at which the
measured strain in the steel reinforcement was 2,000 microstrain.
The displacement ductility factor is defined as the ratio of mid-
span deflection at CFRP failure to midspan deflection at steel
yield.
Initial cracking occurred at about the same load level for all
beams. All beams strengthened with CFRP performed better than
the control beam, in terms of strength and ductility. The strength
of strengthened beams depends on the strain-stress properties of
the constituent materials, and the strength of the adhesive bond
between the CFRP and concrete. The performance of strength-
ened beams is influenced most by the anchorage method at the
beam end. The maximum load of RC beams strengthened with
CFRP is close to the load at which the CFRP ruptures.
The load-deflection curves for the beams are shown in Fig. 4.
All beam specimens display linear elastic behavior at the begin-
ning followed by a first crack within the constant moment region
of the beam. Thereafter, the load-deflection curve becomes highly
nonlinear as numerous flexural cracks develop and the beam de-
flection increases considerably. There was no noticeable differ-
ences in behavior for the beams with the mortar patch, anchor
bolt, and U-shaped CFRP anchorage types. The similarity in be-
havior implies that the overall load-deflection behavior of the
strengthened beams is dominated by the effect of the mortar patch
end anchorage. Thus, the mortar patch length is expected to play
an important role in controlling the deflection and failure load in
the test beams.
The control beam BN reached failure by yielding of the tensile
steel reinforcement prior to crushing of the concrete. Specimen
BN-L, which did not have epoxy mortar patches at the beam ends,
failed by CFRP debonding at the concrete adhesive interface. The
CFRP debonding started at flexural cracks in the constant moment
region and propagated toward both beam ends until the entire
CFRP debonded.
Table 3 indicates that the failure load of RC beams strength-
ened with CFRP was enhanced on average by a factor of 1.38
with respect to the control beam BN. The ductility of strength-
ened beams was also improved on average by a factor of 1.43
with respect to the strengthened control beam BN-L. The ductility
of beams with the wavy surface at the end anchorage zone is
superior to the other special anchorage details considered in this
study. It should be noted that the improvement of ductility is
higher than that of the enhancement of failure load.
The failure load of beam specimens with any type of end an-
chorage is higher than the control beam without any end anchor-
age. The failure load of beams with anchor bolts or U-shaped FRP
is slightly higher than that of the beams with mortar anchorage. In

Fig. 4. Load-midspan deflection curve

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Fig. 5. Distribution of CFRP flexural strain at failure
general, there is no significant difference in the failure load of
beams strengthened with CFRP among the various end anchorage
types and surface shapes. Thus, the failure load of strengthened
beams is mainly enhanced by the mortar patch anchorage and not
by the other anchorage details.
The ductility of all beams with the different anchorage types
was enhanced with respect to the strengthened control beam. The
ductility is improved slightly by using the anchor bolts and
U-shaped FRP in addition to the mortar anchorage. The ductility
of the BF1 series beams is superior to the BF2 series beams.
Therefore, the wavy surface shape in the end anchorage zone
improves ductility compared to the untextured flat surface. The
ductility of the beam with the wavy surface is higher than that of
the strengthened control beam by a factor of 1.78.
Stiffness of Test Beams
The slopes of the curves in Fig. 4 represent the stiffnesses during
the initial elastic, postcracking and postyield regions. The bonded
external CFRP sheet does not contribute greatly to an increase in
stiffness during the initial elastic range of the beams when no end
anchorage is used. The flexural stiffness is enhanced in all three
load-deflection regions 共initial elastic, postcracking, and post-
yield兲 when end anchorages are used. The flexural stiffness is
increased by an average factor of 2.24 over the control beam in
the initial elastic range, but was similar to that of the control beam
共average factor of 1.04兲 in the postcracking range. The flexural
stiffness in the postyielding range for beams with end anchorages
shows a sharp increase by an average factor of 3.64. Therefore, it
can be concluded that end anchorages significantly enhance the
flexural stiffness of the strengthened beams, and that the CFRP
engages strongly in carrying load after the internal steel reinforc-
ing bars yield.
Distribution of Flexural Strain in CFRP
The distribution of flexural strain in the CFRP along the length of
beams is shown in Fig. 5. The locations of the maximum flexural
strain are observed close to the midspan or loading points in all
beam specimens. For the strengthened beams without mortar an-
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chorage, the maximum flexural strain measured in the CFRP sheet
was much lower than its ultimate strain of 0.01, indicating an
inefficient use of the material. The maximum flexural strains in
the CFRP for all beam specimens with mortar anchorage are
greater than those in beam BN-L, which does not have mortar
anchorage. It should be noted that the maximum strain gradient in
the CFRP does not necessarily occur at midspan, or in the con-
stant moment region along the beam specimens. The maximum
strain gradient in the CFRP occurs at the end anchorage zone in
the BF1 series beams and between the load points and end an-
chorage zones for the BF2 series beams. Thus, the CFRP strain
gradient is influenced more by the mortar patch length than the
anchorage type. The maximum strain gradient is more important
in characterizing the failure behavior of the externally strength-
ened RC beam than the maximum flexural strain. The maximum
strain differences are developed within the mortar patches for the
BF1 series beams but at the inner end of the mortar patches for
the BF2 series beams. The interfacial shear stress is directly pro-
portional to the flexural strain gradient along the beam. Fig. 5,
therefore, indicates that the location of the maximum interfacial
shear stress is not always developed at the CFRP cutoff at the
beam end, but can change due to the better end anchorage of the
CFRP as in the BF2 series beams.
Fig. 5 shows that the maximum flexural strain in the CFRP
increases progressively for the BF1, BF2, and wave series beams,
respectively. This increase of flexural strain indicates that the
maximum strain in the CFRP is influenced more by the surface
shape at the end anchorage than the mortar patch length. The
maximum CFRP strain in beams with the wavy surface is greater
than for the BF1 series beams with the same mortar patch length.
The maximum CFRP strain for the BF2 series beams, which have
a mortar patch length twice that of the BF1 series beams, is
greater than for the BF1 series beams.
The maximum CFRP strains for beams with mortar, anchor
bolt, U-shaped CFRP, and U-shaped CFRP with anchor bolt an-
chorages are greater than for the strengthened control beam. The
maximum CFRP strains for the BF2 series beams are higher than
for the BF1 series beams. There is no noticeable difference in the
maximum CFRP strain for beams with different anchorage meth-
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Fig. 6. Load-CFRP strain distribution
ods. This implies that the mortar anchorage is the dominant vari-
able influencing the maximum flexural CFRP strain.
The load-CFRP strain distributions are shown in Fig. 6 for the
BF1-LA beam, which has additional anchorage at the beam end.
The CFRP strain increased uniformly at all locations along the
beam up to a load of 62.41 kN, and the strain increase spread
toward the beam ends until the CFRP ruptured. The CFRP strain
shows a tremendous increase at the beam end as the applied load
approaches the CFRP rupture load. A decrease in CFRP strain
with increasing applied load indicates that strain release is occur-
ring at the corresponding location of the beam. Strain release
occurred at the maximum load at midspan. Thus, CFRP debond-
ing must initiate at midspan and propagate toward the support.
Although the maximum CFRP strain gradient occurred at the
beam end, there is no noticeable strain release at the ends during
the whole loading stage because of the effective anchorage. Thus,
it can be concluded that the mortar anchorage is very effective in
improving the bond behavior of strengthened beams to delay or
prevent premature debonding of the CFRP.
Fig. 6 shows that the location of the maximum strain gradient
during the early loading stage occurred near the one-third span
points, and this location moved toward the beam ends as the
applied load increased. Therefore, it is evident that the location of
the maximum interfacial shear stress shifts from the one-third
span to the end of the beam as the applied load is increased.
Load-strain distributions at each loading stage 共Fig. 6兲 can, there-
fore, be used effectively to detect debonding by observing the
corresponding release in the CFRP strain.
Variation of Interfacial Shear Stress
The concrete-adhesive-CFRP interfacial shear stress can be ob-
tained from experimental test data by realizing that the force in
the bonded external plate must equal the shear force exerted by
the adhesive layer between the concrete substrate and the external
plate 共Alagusundaramoorthy et al. 2003兲. This may be expressed
in the following mathematical form:
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E pb pt p⌬␧ = ␶a⌬Lba 共1兲
where E p⫽elastic modulus of CFRP; b p⫽width of CFRP;
t p⫽thickness of CFRP; ⌬␧⫽strain gradient along the beam;
␶a⫽concrete-adhesive-CFRP interfacial shear stress; ⌬L⫽dis-
tance between measured strains; and ba⫽width of adhesive.
This yields
␶a = 共⌬␧/⌬L兲E pt p 共2兲
The distribution of interfacial shear stress along the length of
the beam is shown in Fig. 7. In conventional FRP reinforced
beams, the interfacial shear stress is largest at the ends of the plate
and rapidly decreases when moving toward the midspan of the
beam. However, this is not the case for the beams with epoxy
mortar patches. The maximum interfacial shear stresses for both
BF1 and BW1 series beams, which had mortar patch lengths of
250 mm, occurred at the beam end, but those for the BF2 series,
which had 500 mm, patch lengths, occurred near the one-third
span. Thus, it is evident that the location of the maximum inter-
facial shear stress is influenced more by the mortar patch length
than the other anchorage details.
The distribution of the interfacial shear stress in the BF1 and
BW1 series beams is similar to that of the conventionally
strengthened RC beams. Many existing analytical models for the
evaluation of the maximum interfacial shear stress or failure load
are based on the assumption that the maximum interfacial shear
stress occurs at the end anchorage zone of the beam. However,
the distribution of shear stress in the BF2 series beams is different
from that in conventionally strengthened beams because the
maximum shear stress occurs near the one-third span. Thus, a new
analytical model to predict the maximum interfacial shear stress
or failure load is required to estimate the test results obtained in
this study. Furthermore, since the shear stress concentration for
the BF2 series is higher than for the BF1 series, it is believed that
there should be an optimum mortar patch length for the anchorage
that minimizes the shear stress concentration.
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Fig. 7. Distribution of interfacial shear stress

Fig. 8 shows the effect of anchorage type and surface shape
on the maximum interfacial shear stress. It shows that the maxi-
mum interfacial shear stress is not very sensitive to the anchorage
type. Therefore, the interfacial shear stress depends mostly on the
mortar anchorage. The beams with mortar patch anchorage are
able to sustain higher interfacial shear stresses than the strength-
ened control beam BN-L, which does not have mortar anchorage.
Further, the BF2 series beams sustained higher interfacial shear
stresses than the BF1 series. The effect of surface shape of the
anchorage on the average sustained maximum interfacial shear
stress 关Fig. 8共b兲兴 shows a linear enhancement in proportion to the
mortar patch length 共FLAT-2 versus FLAT-1兲, and that the waved
surface is superior to the flat surface for the same mortar patch
length.
In conclusion, the influence of the flat surface anchorage type
on the sustained interfacial shear stress is similar for the anchor
bolt, U-shaped FRP, and mortar anchorages. Thus, the anchorage
with the strongest influence on the sustained interfacial shear
stress is the mortar patch. Increasing the mortar patch length im-
proves the interfacial shear strength, and the waved surface fur-
ther improves the mortar anchorage.
Analytical Study
The nonlinear behavior of concrete under load is frequently domi-
nated by progressive cracking, resulting in localized failure. Ex-
tensive tests and analytical studies of RC beams strengthened
with externally bonded FRP reinforcement have indicated that the
debonding of FRP plates is due to high local shear stresses at the
ends of the plates, and that such delamination can be prevented by
limiting the maximum stresses in the adhesive layer 共Colotti et al.
2004兲. Roberts 共1989兲 and Quantrill et al. 共1996兲 have also sug-
gested that ripping of the concrete cover can similarly be pre-
vented by limiting the maximum stresses in the adhesive layer.
When CFRP laminates are used as externally bonded rein-
forcement, many tests show that FRP plate debonding and prema-
ture failure occur well before the full flexural capacity of the
beam is reached 共Colotti et al. 2004兲. Quantifying the debonding
failure load for such beams is complicated and difficult.
A number of analytical studies have been conducted to explain
steel or FRP plate debonding phenomenon 共Teng et al. 2002;
Oehlers and Seracino 2004兲. Most studies are based on linear
elastic material properties, and failure can occur in several modes.
A common failure mode involves peeling of the FRP at the ends.
However, the debonding failure loads from the various models are
not always consistent, and have been validated using results only
from experiments conducted on strengthened beams with conven-
tional end anchorage methods.
Roberts 共1989兲 proposed an approximate analytical method to
predict the bond shear strength of RC beams strengthened with an
externally bonded steel plate. Failure of RC beams strengthened
with CFRP sheets is more difficult to analyze, because the failure
is influenced by the epoxy thickness and mechanical properties,
preparation of the concrete substrate, anchorage at CFRP plate
ends, and propagating concrete cracks. The end anchorage plays a
significant role on the behavior of the strengthened RC beam
共El-Mihilmy and Tedesco 2001兲.
An analytical model to predict the FRP-adhesive-concrete in-
terfacial shear strength is developed herein. Fig. 9 shows an ele-
ment of the external FRP plate subjected to resultant axial force
and shear force per unit length due to the applied load. The inter-
facial shear stress in the adhesive layer can be determined from a
two-stage analysis. The bending stiffness of the RC section is
much greater than that of the CFRP plate and, hence, the bending
moment in the CFRP plate can be neglected. This implies that the

Fig. 8. Effect of anchorage and surface shape on the interfacial shear stress

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J. Compos. Constr., 2008, 12(4): 387-395

 Table 4. Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Failure Loads
Pexp Prob Pmod
Beam 共kN兲 共kN兲 共kN兲 Prob / Pexp Pmod / Pexp
BN — — — — —
BN-L 67.96 68.14 68.14 1.00 1.00
BF1-L 71.88 105.73 73.94 1.47 1.03
BF1-LA 72.37 105.73 73.94 1.46 1.02
BF1-LU 72.22 91.63 64.08 1.27 0.89
BF1-LUA 76.79 98.68 69.01 1.29 0.90
BF2-L 72.18 140.97 81.02 1.95 1.12
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BF2-LA 76.49 129.22 74.27 1.69 0.97

BF2-LU 77.28 122.17 70.22 1.58 0.91
BW1-L 71.69 115.13 80.51 1.61 1.12
BW1-LU 76.98 115.13 80.51 1.50 1.05

Comparison of Analytical and Experimental Results

Failure loads predicted by Roberts’ model and the modified model

Fig. 9. Resultant forces and stresses in externally strengthened RC
beam
normal stress in the adhesive layer can be neglected. The interfa-
cial shear stress in the adhesive layer is, therefore, equal to the
shear stress in the concrete at the level of the adhesive, and can be
obtained from conventional beam theory and the solution of the
governing differential equilibrium equation for the CFRP plate
element. The failure load may be determined analytically from the
maximum interfacial shear stress 共Roberts 1989兲.
Based on the results reported herein, the anchorage method
with the greatest influence on the strain and shear stress distribu-
tion in RC beams strengthened with CFRP is the mortar anchor-
age. Thus, the mortar patch length to the shear span ratio was
employed as the primary parameter to modify Roberts’ model to
predict the maximum interfacial shear stress. The empirical modi-
fied model is able to consider both the debonding failure and the
CFRP rupture. The modified analytical model for the failure load
of RC beams strengthened with both CFRP and the end anchor-
ages used in this work is
in Eq. 共3兲 for the beams tested in this work are given in Table 4.
Roberts’ model accurately predicts the failure load for the BN-L
beam, which does not have end anchorages. However, it signifi-
cantly overestimates the failure load for the beams strengthened
with both CFRP and epoxy mortar end anchorage. The original
model was developed to predict the maximum interfacial shear
stress for conventionally strengthened beams, but the shear stress
and its distribution is different for beams strengthened with the
new mortar anchorage at beam ends. Roberts’ model yields poorer
results for the BF2 series beams than for the BF1 series beams,
because the maximum interface shear stresses for the BF1 series
beams occurred at the beam ends as for conventionally strength-
ened beams, but for the BF2 series beams, it occurred near the
one-third spans. Such behavior in the interfacial shear stress was
never observed in previous experimental studies. Thus, Roberts’
model is only able to accurately predict the failure load of con-
ventionally strengthened beams, which have no special end an-
chorage details.
The failure load predicted by the modified analytical model in
Eq. 共3兲 shows good agreement with the experimental results.
Thus, the modified model is able to consider the effects of an-
chorage type and epoxy mortar patches at the end anchorage zone
for RC beams strengthened with CFRP. However, since the beams
tested are small, additional large-scale beam tests should be per-
formed to ascertain if any scale effects are introduced. A limita-
tion of the current work is that the data from this study are also
used to both calibrate and validate the proposed model. Since no
other studies have been performed using epoxy mortar end an-
chorage, there are no other data at present that can be used to
validate the model.
Summary and Conclusions

2␶o Results from an experimental study conducted to investigate the

冋 冉 冊冉 冊册
P= 共3兲
1/2 effect of end anchorages on the flexural behavior of RC beams
Ks hc + t p b pt p
Ca 1 + Lo + 共h p − h兲 strengthened with CFRP sheets are reported. The influence of the
E pb pt p 2 Iba end anchorages on strength, deflection, flexural strain, interfacial
shear stress, and failure load are documented. The test results
where Ca = 0.939共Le / a兲 + 1.12, if Le = 0 then Ca = 1.0, ␶o⫽maxi- show that the premature debonding failure in RC beams strength-
mum interfacial shear stress; Le⫽mortar patch length; and ened with CFRP sheets can be delayed or prevented by using
a⫽shear span. epoxy mortar patch end anchorages, thereby enhancing flexural

394 / JOURNAL OF COMPOSITES FOR CONSTRUCTION © ASCE / JULY/AUGUST 2008

J. Compos. Constr., 2008, 12(4): 387-395

 performance. A modified analytical equation for predicting the
flexural capacity of RC beams strengthened with CFRP and in-
cluding end anchorages is presented.
The mortar patch anchorage used in this experimental study is
very effective in delaying or preventing the premature debonding
failure that is the dominant failure mode for beams conventionally
strengthened with CFRP. Mortar cover failure at the interface be-
tween the adhesive and the mortar patch did not occur due to the
high tensile strength of the epoxy mortar.
Providing a wavy surface to the mortar patch improves the
bond between the CFRP and the patch compared to the bond for
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a flat surface. The mortar patch length is the most influential
parameter that improves the interfacial shear strength for RC
beams strengthened with CFRP sheets.
End anchorage details in addition to the mortar patch 共such as
anchor bolts, U-shaped CFRP, and wavy surface兲 do not signifi-
cantly increase flexural strength any further. The ductility of
beams with a waved surface at the end anchorage zone is superior
to those with the other special anchorage details used in this
study.
Since the mortar anchorage is the most influential anchorage
affecting both the maximum interfacial shear strength and the
failure load, the mortar patch length to shear span ratio was em-
ployed as the primary parameter to modify Roberts’ model for
predicting the failure load of RC beams strengthened with CFRP
and mortar patch anchorages. The modified model provides good
accuracy.
Acknowledgments
The writers are grateful to Hankuk Carbon Co. for donating the
composite materials used in this study.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
a ⫽ shear span;
ba ⫽ width of adhesive layer;
b p ⫽ width of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer plate;
Ca ⫽ primary modification factor for failure load prediction;
E p ⫽ elastic modulus of CFRP;
h ⫽ neutral axis depth;
hc ⫽ height of concrete beam;
h p ⫽ effective depth of longitudinal CFRP;
I ⫽ transformed moment of inertia of cracked section
including CFRP plate;
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J. Compos. Constr., 2008, 12(4): 387-395
Ks ⫽ shear stiffness per unit length of adhesive layer along
the beam;
Le ⫽ length of epoxy mortar patch;
Lo ⫽ distance from support to CFRP end;
t p ⫽ thickness of CFRP;
⌬L ⫽ distance between measured strains;
⌬␧ ⫽ difference in flexural strain along the beam;
␶a ⫽ concrete-adhesive-CFRP interfacial shear stress; and
␶o ⫽ maximum interfacial shear stress.
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